A U.S. company that has sold a speedy potting method to nurseries for decades has expanded its customer base to cannabis growers, many of whom aim to sow three annual crops in the same cultivation spaces and need to plant thousands of young clones throughout the year.
Tennessee-based Bouldin and Lawson LLC’s EP-2200B equipment fills pots up to 10 gallons (38 litres) with a set amount of soil and then drills an exact space for cannabis clones to be planted.
“Everything is planted at the same consistent depth,” said Jim Fowler, territory manager for Bouldin and Lawson, about the US$30,000 equipment.
“You get a more uniformed growth because of the numbers you can produce at the same time.”
The potter can fill and drill 200 pots an hour per person, he said.
Workers need to be there to take the pots off the conveyer belt once they are filled with a precise quantity of soil and then plant the cannabis clone in the space that has been drilled. The equipment’s variable speed can be increased to accommodate more helping hands or slowed down accordingly.
Bouldin has been in operation since the 1950s and its EP-2200 has been used in nurseries for decades.
“We sell this same unit to greenhouses and nurseries all over the United States,” said Mr. Fowler, adding the company expanded its customer base to cannabis producers around 2013 and has since branched out globally.
Building and Lawson’s EP-2200 potter on display at MJBizCon in Las Vegas in December 2019.Marcy Nicholson